Printing machine and sheet ejector therefor



p 1965 A. J. WRIGHT 3,204,554

PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJECTOR THEREFOR Filed Sept. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

INVENTOR.

A 7' TORNEYJ Sept. 7, 1965 A. .1. WRIGHT 3,204,554

PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJECTOR THEREFOR Filed Sept. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I NVENTOR.

ATTO/PNE KS Sept. 7, 1965 A. J. WRIGHT PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJECTOR THEREFOR Filed Sept. 20, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. A/vsel J. WFP/GHT A 7' TOFPNE Y5 Se t. 7, 1965 A. .1. WRIGHT 3,204,554

PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJ'ECTOR THEREFOR Filed Sept. 20, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 I 39 MW INVENTOR.

FI 7 1 1N5 5} J WQ/GHT ywym/iflwf AT TOEWEYS Sept. 7, 1965 A. J. WRIGHT PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJEGTOR THEREFOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 20, 1963 INVENTOR.

A/vsgL J WRIGHT A 7" TO/PNE Y5 United States Patent 3,204,554 PRINTING MACHINE AND SHEET EJECTOR THEREFOR Ansel J. Wright, Minneapolis, Minn, assignor to Master ddresser Company, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed Sept. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 310,215 8 Claims. (Cl. 101-65) My invention relates generally to printing machines, and more particularly to a printing machine utilizing the spirit transfer process of printing, and a plurality of master elements having spirit responsive transfer material imprinted thereon for the printing of cards, envelopes, sheets of paper and the like.

More specifically, my present invention is in the nature of an improvement on machines of the type disclosed in my prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,859,690, and involves means for feeding master cards or elements from a stack thereof successively to a printing position, means for feeding worksheets, such as envelopes or the like, to a printing position in face to-face relation to a master element and applying transfer fluid to the sheet, and for imparting printing pressure to the master element and sheet for the transfer of printed matter to the sheet.

An important object of my invention is the provision of novel means for automatically ejecting a sheet from the printing machine after the printing operation is completed.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a sheet ejector which can be readily applied to existing machines with a minimum of modification to said existing machines.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a sheet ejector which can be rendered operative or inoperative at will, in a minimum of time, and without the use of tools.

printing machine as set forth having an operating handle, during a single cycle of operating movement of said handle, a master card or elemoving said cards singly from the magazine to a printing position underlying said platen, infeed mechanism for feeding sheet-s, envelopes, or the like to be printed, to a printing position intermediate a card and platen, means charged or ejected from the machine.

The above, and still further highly important objects and advantages of my invention, will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claims and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the invention, and in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a printing machine 3,204,554 Patented Sept. 7, 1965 made in accordance with my invention, some parts being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, some parts being broken away;

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2, but showing a diiierent position of some of the parts;

. FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, some parts being broken away;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view corresponding to a portion of FIG. 4 but showing a different position of some of the parts;

FIG. 6 is a view in side elevation, as seen from the right with respect to FIG. 1, some parts being broken away;

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 6 but showing a different position of some of the parts;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical section taken substantially on the line 8-8 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 99 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view in front elevation, showing the sheet ejecting mechanism of my invention;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary detail taken on the line Ill-11 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section, taken on the line 12-12 of FIG. 8.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, the numeral 1 indicates, in its entirety, a frame structure that is adapted to be supported from a suitable stand or table by elongated channel-like feet 2, and which plurality of master elements or cards 10 disposed in vertically stacked relationship, see FIGS. 4 and 8. The cards 10 are supported adjacent the side walls 9 by a pair of horizontally disposed channel-like rails 11, that are mounted in the frame structure 1 in laterally spaced parallel arrangement, extending forwardly from. the magazine the machine. V The master cards 10 tion to the guide rails 11 sufliciently to permit passage of one master card 10 therebetween and the underlying guide rails 11.

A pressure end of threaded into the platen mounting arm 15, and is enga ed by a cam element 24 that is journalled on the shaft 16, and

I 3 which is engaged by a cam follower roller 25 journalled in the operating head 17. Swinging movement of the head 17 in a counterclockwise direction with respect to FIGS. 68, causes the roller 25 to swing the cam 24 in a direction to move the platen mounting arm downwardly, the tension of the spring maintaining engagement between the adjustment screw 23 and the cam 24. Movement of the operating head 17 in a clockwise direction increases tension of the spring 20 to raise the platen 14 and mounting arm 15 toward the inoperative position thereof. Pivotal or swinging movements are imparted to the operating head 17 by a handle-equipped operating crank or the like 26 that is journalled on a horizontally disposed mounting shaft or bolt 27 extending transversely from and rigidly secured to the frame structure 1. A crank arm 28 is rigidly secured to the crank 26 for common swinging movements therewith, and is pivotally connected at its outer end to one end of a pitman arm 29, as indicated at 30. The opposite end of the pitman arm 29 is pivotally connected to the operating head 17 by means of a pivot bolt or the like 31. The operating crank 26 and crank arm 28 are yieldingly biased in a direction to move the operating head 17 in a platen raising direction by a torsion spring 32, see FIGS. 4, 6, and 7. With particular reference to FIG. 7, it will be seen that forward swinging movement of the operating crank 26 is limited by engagement of the crank arm 28 with a stop bar or the like 33 rigidly secured to the frame structure by any suitable means, not shown, rearward swinging movements of the operating crank 26 being limited by engagement of an intermediate portion of the operating head 17 with a cross member 34 of the frame structure 1, shown in FIG. 8.

Means for feeding the master elements or cards 10 singly from the magazine 6 to a printing position underlying the platen 14 comprises a carriage 35 mounted and guided in the guide rails 11 for reciprocatory forward and rearward movements, and having a plurality for feed dogs 36 pivotally mounted thereon. As fully disclosed in the above-identified prior patent, the feed dogs 36 are yieldingly urged in a direction to engage the rear edges of the master cards 10 during forward movement of the carriage 35 to move the master cards 10 forwardly and are adapted to slide beneath the cards 10 during rearward movement of the carriage and engage the rear edge of a subsequent card to move the same forwardly during a following forward movement of the carriage 35. The length of travel of the carriage 35 is such that the cards 10 are moved by the feed dogs 36 with a step-by-step movement to deliver the master cards 10 to the printing position. Cooperating with the rearmost feed dogs 36 is an inverted generally L-shaped feeding blade 37 that is pivotally mounted in the frame structure as indicated at 38, for generally forward and rearward swinging movements of the upper end thereof. I have provided three pairs of feed dogs 36, one of each pair being shown in FIG. 8. The rearmost or right hand dogs 36 and the intermediate ones thereof operate to feed the cards 10 to the printing position underlying the platen 14, the foremost or left hand dogs 36 engaging the rear edge of a master card 10 in the printing position thereof to eject the card 16 forwardly from the machine. Means for imparting forward and rearward reciprocatory movements to the carriage 35 and parts carried thereby comprises an arm 39 pivotally secured to one end of the operating head 17 by means of one of the pivot bolts 19 and releasably locked to the head 17 by means of a releasable lock 40, a horizontal shaft 41 parallel to the pivot bolt 19 and extending through an arcuate slot 42 in the frame structure 1, and a rigid link 43 connected at one end to the shaft 41. At its other end, the link 43 is pivotally connected, by means of a pivot bolt or the like 44, to the intermediate portion of a lever 45 that is pivotally connected, as indicated at 46, to the It will be noted that frame structure 1 for swinging movement on an axis parallel to the axis of the shaft 41. At its opposite end, the lever 45 is pivotally connected to one end of a rigid link 47, the other end of which is pivotally connected to the carriage 35, as at 48. With the above arrangement, when the operating crank 26 is moved generally forwardly and downwardly, the carriage 35 will be moved in a rearward direction, release of the operating crank 26 by the operator permitting the torsion spring 32 to move the operating crank 26 in a generally upward and rearward direction to cause the carriage 35 to be moved forwardly, The feeding blade 37 is connected to the lever 45 by a lost motion connection comprising a rigid link 49 pivotally connected at one end to the blade 37, as indicated at 50. The link 49 being provided with a longitudinally extending slot 51 through which the pivot bolt or pin 44 extends. In the full line position of the feeding blade 37, shown in FIG. 8, the upper end 52 thereof engages the rear edge of the lowermost master card 10 in the magazine 6, and during final forward and downward movement of the operating crank 26, the pivot pin or bolt 44 engages the forward end of the slot 51 to move the feeding blade 37 toward its dotted line position of FIG. 8 to impart initial feeding movement to the lowermost master card 10 of the stack thereof, so that the rearmost feeding dogs 36 engage the rear edge of said lowermost card and move the same forwardly during subsequent forward movement of the carriage 35 when the operating crank 26 is released. As shown, in FIG. 11, the releasable lock 40 comprises a locking pin 53 that extends through alignable apertures in the arm 39 and adjacent depending portion 18 of the operating head 17 and through a supporting bracket 54 welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the arm 39. The locking pin 53 further extends through a slot 53a in the housing member 4, see FIG. 1, and at its outer end is provided with a knob 55 by means of which the pin 53 may be pulled out of engagement with the operating head 17. A latch pin 56 extends transversely through the locking pin 53, and a coil compression spring 57, encompassing the pin 53, is interposed between the bracket 54 and the latch pin 56 to yieldingly urge the locking pin 53 into operative engagement with the depending portion or arm 18 of the operating head 17. A strike member 58 is mounted on the arm 39 and is adapted to be engaged by the latch pin 56, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 11, when the locking pin 53 is moved axially outwardly out of operative engagement with the depending arm 18, and rotated on its own axis, to hold the locking pin 53 out of said operative engagement with the arm 18. With the locking pin 53 thus disengaged from the operating head 17, the carriage 35 does not move to feed cards 10 to the printing position, for a purpose which hereinafter becomes apparent.

For the purpose of feeding material to be printed to a printing position between the platen 14 and an underlying master element or card 10, and for supporting said material at the printing position, I provide infeed mechanism and sheet guiding and supporting members 59, 60 and 61, the latter two of which are laterally adjustable and releasably locked in place by a thumb screw or the like 62, see particularly FIG. 1. The guide members 60 and 61 are adapted to engage opposite side edges of a sheet, envelope or card to be printed during movement thereof in a direction generally normal to the direction of feeding movement of the master elements or cards 10 toward said printing position thereof. While, as indicated, the material to be printed may be in any flat form, said material will be hereinafter referred to as being in the nature of sheets or the like and indicated by the reference numeral 63. A drive roller 64, preferably of rubber or the like, is mounted fast on a horizontally disposed drive shaft 65 that is journalled in the frame structure 1 for rotation on a horizontal axis extending generally forwardly and rearwardly of the machine. The drive roller 64 is disposed in an upwardly opening fluid tank or container 66, the upper circumferential portion of the rollers 64 projecting upwardly through an opening 67 in the sheet supporting and guide member 59, see FIGS. 2, 9, and 12. Volatile transfer liquid is delivered to the container 66 through a tube 68 that extends from the container 66 to a reservoir 69 in the nature of an inverted roller 64 with a wiping action during rotation of the roller 64 to insure proper and uniform coating of the circumferential surface of the roller 64 with transfer fluid during rotation thereof. A second roller 72, preferably made of rubber and the like, overlies the roller 64, and is journalled for rotation on an axis parallel to the axis of the roller 64 in holder means '73 pivotally mounted in a bracket 74, as indicated at 75. The bracket 74 is rigidly secured to a supporting arm '76 comprising a portion of the frame structure 1. The roller 72 is yieldingly urged toward operative engagement with the roller 64 by a pair of coil compression springs 77, movement of the roller 72 toward the roller 64 being limited by a pair of adjustment screws or the like 78. With reference particularly to FIG. 12, it will be seen that, when a sheet 63 is fed to the bight of the rollers 64 and '72, frictional engagement of the roller 7 with the surface of the sheet 63 will cause rotary movement to be imparted to the upper roller 72 responsive to rotation of the roller 64.

A pinion 79 is secured fast to the rear end of the shaft and has meshing engagement with a cooperating gear 80 that is suitably journalled in the frame structure 1 and to which is attached a ratchet 81 for common rotation therewith. The ratchet 81 is operatively engaged by a pair of opposing pawl elements 82 and 83, the former of which is pivotally connected to a vertically reciprocating link or bar 84 that is mounted for vertical sliding movements in a pair of guide members 35 mounted in the frame structure 1. Adjacent its upper end, the bar 84 is pivotally connected to the outer end of a lever element 86, the inner end of which is pivotally mounted on an adjacent one of the pivot bolts 19 for the operating head 17. Intermediate its ends, the lever element 86 is conmediate portion of the lever element 36 engaging a cam 83 pivotally mounted on the operating head 17, as indicated at 89, see FIGS. 2 and 3. A spring detent element 90, rigidly secured to the operating head 17, engages a toothed portion 91 on the cam $8 to releasably hold the cam 88 in any desired position of its pivotal movement relative to the operating head 17, and an adjustment handle 92 is utilized to adjust the cam 88 to position the lever 86 as desired with respect to the operating head 17.

with the cam 88, see FIGS. 24.

The pawl elementhfi is pivotally connected to an upstanding intermediate portion M of a lever 95, as indicated at 96, one end of the lever 95' being pivotally mounted to the frame structure 1, as indicated at 97. With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the 100, one end of which engages one of a pair of stop shoulders 101 and 102 formed in a bracket 1113 rigidly secured to the frame structure 1. The stop shoulders 161 and 162 limit upward and downward swinging movetorsion spring 100, to cause the pawl element 83 to impart rotary feeding movement to the feed roller 64 through the gear 81), pinion 79 and shaft 65, as will hereinafter be described.

With reference to FIG. 4, it will be seen that, with the operating crank 26 in its upwardly and rearwardly disposed return position, the pawl elements 82 and 83 are both disposed in lowered positions. When the operating crank 26 is pulled forwardly and downwardly, resulting swinging movement of the operating head 17 causes the pawl element 82 to be moved upwardly to impart rotary movesheet 63 toward the printing position and to impart rotary movement to the roller '72 as hereinbefore described. During upward movement of the pawl element 82, the torsion spring will impart generally upward movement to the pawl element 83. The configuration of the teeth of the ratchet 81 and pawl elements 82 and 83 is such that, during upward movement of the pawl element 83. the same will slip over the ratchet 81.

the same is being driven by the downwardly moving pawl element 83. With reference to FIG. 5, it will be noted that during upward movement of the pawl element 82, the same moves upwardly out of operative engagement with the ratchet 81 during final movement of the operating crank 26 toward its limit of forward and downward movement. The operative positions of the pawl element 82 relative to the ratchet 81 are determined by adjustment of the cam 88 relative to the lever 86, such adjustment being 64 and 72, so as to be in condition to receive a subsequent work sheet 63.

A horizontally disposed impression roll 105, preferably made of rubber-like material, is provided at its opposite ends with guide rollers 106 that are mounted in adjacent ones of the guide rails 11 forwardly of the carriage 35, the impression roll 195 underlying the platen 14. Rigid links 197 pivotally connect the impression roll 1% to the upper end of a plate-like lever 108 that is pivotally mounted in the frame structure 1 for forward The bell crank 112 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on a nut-equipped mounting screw or the like 114 that extends through and is rigidly secure to a wall element 115 of the frame structure 1.

115 and has projecting radially outwardly from the extended portion thereof a pin 119 that engages a pair of circumferentially spaced abutment screws or the like 129 to limit rotary movement of the shaft 118 and cam 117 in opposite directions. Preferably, the cam follower roller 116 is maintained in engagement with the cam 117 by suitable yielding means, such as a spring 121, the spring 121 yieldingly urging the impression roll in a forward direction. As shown by full and dotted lines in FIG. 8, the impression roll 105 moves across the bottom surface of a master card or element 16 underlying the platen 14 to press the master element 16 and a work sheet overlying the same against the platen 14 when the platen 14 is moved to its downwardly disposed operative position of FIG. 8.

Rotary or oscillatory movements are imparted to the cam shaft 118 by a pair of spaced pins 122 and 123 mounted fast on the crank arm 28 and engaging opposite sides of a cam-like radial arm 124 fast on the cam shaft 118. The pins 122 and 123 are so spaced relative to the radial arm 124 that there is considerable lost motion, the pin 122 engaging the arm 124 only during final forward and downward movement of the operating crank 26 to move the impression roll 104 from its dotted line position of FIG. 8 to the full line position thereof. Then, during upward and rearward return movement of the operating crank 26, the pin 123 engages the radial arm 124 to return the impression roll 165 to its dotted line position of FIG. 8, after the supporting arm for the platen 14 has been raised to its inoperative position, and substantially simultaneously with forward movement of the carriage 35 and consequent ejection of the used master element 10 and placement of a subsequent master element 10 in the printing position thereof. it will be noted that pressure of the cam follower roller 116 against the cam 117 tends to urge the shaft 118 in a direction of rotation thereof against the pin 122 so that, during upward and rearward return movements of the operating crank 26, the radial arm 124 is positioned to be engaged by the pin 123 to be moved thereby.

An important feature of the instant invention is the work sheet ejector or discharge mechanism, now to be described. A horizontally elongated vertically disposed pulley supporting bar 125 is pivotally secured at one end portion and adjacent its upper end, by a pivot pin or the like 126, to a mounting bracket 127 that is rigidly secured to the supporting arm 76, the bar 125 extending transversely of the frame structure 1 forwardly of the platen 14 and in overlying spaced relation to the adjacent portion of the sheet supporting and guide member 59. The axis of the pivot pin 126 is disposed in spaced parallel relation to the adjacent feed roller 72. The shaft on which the feed roller 72 is rigidly mounted, indicated by the reference numeral 128, extends forwardly through the holder means 73, and has rigidly mounted thereon a drive pulley 129. An idler pulley 130 is journalled to the outer end portion of the bar 125, opposite the end carrying the pivot pin 126, the idler pulley 130 being disposed in driving alignment with the drive pulley 129. Intermediate its ends, the bar 125 is provided with a second idler pulley 131, also in driving alignment with the drive and idler pulleys 129 and 130 respectively. An endless elastic belt 132, preferably made from rubber or the like, is entrained over the drive pulley 129 and idler pulley 130, and has tangential engagement with diametrical opposite portions of the intermediate idler pulley 131, see particularly FIG. 12. The lower flight of the belt 132, between the pulleys 130 and 131, engages an underlying work sheet 63 on the sheet supporting and guide member 59 to move the sheet 63 away from the printing position after the printing operation is completed. It will be noted, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 12, that the axis of the pivot pin 126 is normally disposed in above dead center relationship between the axis of the pulleys 129 and 130 so that, in its stretched condition over the pulleys 129 and 130, the elastic belt 132 yield ingly urges the pulley supporting bar 125 in a downward direction. This yielding bias, together with the weight of the bar 125 contributes to the frictional engagement between the belt 132 and the underlying sheet 63 to impart discharging movements to the sheets 63 when the feed rollers 64 and 72 are rotated in a sheet feeding direction.

Operation of the machine is as follows. Assuming that a supply of master elements or cards 10 are placed in the magazine 6, and the weight 12 placed thereon, the operating crank 26 is moved forwardly and downwardly about the axis of its mounting bolt 27, to the limit of its forward and downward movement and released. Subsequent upward and rearward swinging movement of the operating crank 26 imparted thereto by the torsion spring 32, will impart forward movement to the carriage 35 and feeding blade 37 to partially move the lowermost master element 10 forwardly relative to the magazine 6. The operating crank is then pulled forwardly and downwardly a second time to move the carriage 35 to its rearward limit of movement, whereupon the rearmost dogs 36 engage the rear edge of said lowermost master card 16. Upon release of the operating crank 26, the carriage will move forwardly to bring the first removed master card 16 to an intermediate position between the magazine 6 and a printing position underlying the platen 14; at the same time, the feeding blade 37 engages a subsequent master card or element 11) to partially remove the same from the magazine 6. The operating crank 26 is then pulled forwardly and downwardly a third time and released, whereupon the first master card or element 10 will be delivered to the printing position. A work sheet 63 is then manually placed on the sheet supporting and guide member 59 between the cooperating members 66 and 61, with the leading edge of the work sheet 63 disposed in the bight of the feed rollers 64 and 72. The operating crank 26 is then again pulled forwardly and downwardly, initial forward and downward movement causing the pawl element 82 to rotate the infeed rollers 6-4 and '72 to feed the work sheet 63 to the printing position between the platen 14 and the underlying master card 19. During the intermediate portion of forward and downward travel of the operating crank 26, the platen 14 is moved downwardly into engagement with the sheet 63, the pawl 82 having moved out of engagement with the ratchet 81, so that no further feeding movement is imparted to the sheet 63. During final forward and downward movement of the operating crank 26, the pin 122 engages the radial arm 124 and moves the .same in a direction to move the impression roll 105 across the undersurface of the master element 10 to press the same upwardly against the overlying work sheet 63 to cause transfer of material imprinted on the master element 10 to the sheet 63. It will be borne in mind that, during feeding of the sheet 63 toward the printing position thereof, spirit transfer liquid is applied to the sheet 63 by the infeed roller 64, whereby to effect transfer of printed material from the master element 10 to the sheet 63. It will be further noted that, when the sheet 63 is delivered to the printing position thereof, a portion of the sheet 63 will be engaged by the ejector belt 132.

Upon release of the operating crank 26 by the operator, the torsion spring 32 will cause the crank 26 to move upwardly and rearwardly toward its position of FIGS. 1 and 2. During the initial portion of the return movement of the operating crank 26, the platen 14 is raised and the carriage 35 is moved forwardly to eject the used master element 10 and to move a subsequent master element into the printing position. As the operating crank approaches its upward and rearward limit of return movement, the lever is moved downwardly by engagement of the lower end of the pawl 82 therewith, the pawl 83 imparting rotary movement to the ratchet 81 in a direction to rotate the infeed rolls 64 and "72 in directions to impart ejecting movement to the belt 132 in the direction of feeding movement thereof, thus, the printed sheet 63 is ejected from the machine to a suitable receiving tray or the like, not shown, but which may be assumed to be disposed at one side of the machine.

When it is desired to print more than a single sheet 63 from one master card or element It the operator grasps the knob 55 and pulls the locking pin 53 axially out of engagement with the adjacent depending arm 18 of the operating head 17, and rotates the pin 53 to cause engagement between the latch pin 56 and strike 58, as shown by dotted lines in FIG. 11. The action disengages the operating head 17 from operative engagement with the linkage for moving the carriage 35 and parts associated therewith, but does not affect operation of the infeed mechanism, platen 14, impression roll 105, or sheet ejecting belt 132. Then, when the desired number of sheets 63 are imprinted from a given master element 10, the knob 55 is rotated to disengage the latching pin 56 from the strike 58, whereupon the spring 57 will move the locking pin 53 into operative engagement with the operating head 17, to cause automatic feeding of the master element 10, as above described.

If desired, the sheet discharge or ejecting mechanism may be rendered inoperative by manually swinging the bar 125 upwardly and to the left with respect to FIGS. 1 and to the dotted line position of FIG. 10, and removing the belt 132. In its dotted line position of FIG. 10, the bar 125 is disposed with the intermediate pulley 131 resting on the drive pulley 129, the freely journalled intermediate pulley 131 offering a minimum resistance to rotary movement of the guide pulley 129.

While I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my printing machine and sheet ejecting mechanism therefor, it Will be understood that the same is capable of modification Without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a printing machine,

(a) a frame structure including a magazine for holding a stacked plurality of cards containing material to be reproduced,

(b) a platen mounted in said frame structure,

(c) card feeding means in said frame structure for feeding said cards singly from said magazine toward said platen and for supporting a card in closely spaced generally parallel relation to said platen,

(d) infeed mechanism for feeding sheets to be printed singly to a printing position between said platen and an adjacent card and for applying transfer fluid to said sheets during feeding movement thereof, and including a rotary feeding element,

(e) means for supporting said sheet in the printing position thereof,

(f) means for applying printing pressure to said card and sheet against said platen,

(g) means for imparting card-feeding movement to said card-feeding means and infeeding movements to said infeed mechanism,

(h) and sheet discharge means responsive to operation of said infeed mechanism to move a printed sheet away from said platen and comprising a rotary drive element operatively connected to said rotary feeding element for common rotation therewith, a rotary idler element mounted in driving alignment with said drive element adjacent said sheet supporting means, and an elongated flexible drive member engaging said drive and idler elements and frictionally engageable with said sheet on said sheet supporting means.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said card feeding means includes:

(a) a carriage mounted in said frame structure for advancing movements toward said platen and return movements toward said magazine,

(b) card feeding dogs on said carriage for moving said cards toward said platen during advancing movements of the carriage and movable independently of said cards toward said magazine during said return movements of the carriage,

(c) and means including a first crank arm operatively associated with said operating element for common movements therewith, a second crank arm pivotally mounted in said frame structure and operatively con- I9 nected'to said carriage, and operating connections between said crank arms whereby pivotal movements of said first crank arm imparts similar pivotal movement to said second crank arm.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which said means for applying printing pressure to said card and sheet cornprises:

(a) an impression roll,

(b) means mounting said impression roll in said frame structure for movement over the bottom surface of a card supported by the card supporting means at said printing position thereof,

(0) a cam mounted in said frame structure,

(d) means including said first crank arm for imparting camming movements to said cam,

(e) and linkage including a cam follower engaging said cam and operatively connected to said impression roller for imparting said movements to the impression roller responsive to movement of said operating element.

4. In a printing machine,

(a) a frame structure including a magazine for holding a stacked plurality of cards containing material to be reproduced,

(b) a platen mounted in said frame structure,

(c) card feeding means in said frame structure for feeding said cards singly from said magazine toward said platen and for supporting a card in closely spaced generally parallel relation to said platen,

(d) infeed mechanism for feeding sheets to be printed singly to a printing position between said platen and an adjacent card and for applying transfer fluid to said sheets during feeding movement thereof, and including a feed roller,

(e) means for supporting tion thereof,

(f) means for applying printing pressure to said card and sheet against said platen,

(g) means for imparting card-feeding movement to said card-feeding means and infeeding movement to said infeed mechanism,

(h) and sheet discharge means responsive to operation of said infeed means to move a printed sheet away from said platen and comprising a drive pulley operatively connected to said feed roller for common rotation therewith, an idler pulley, means mounting said idler pulley in driving alignment with said drive pulley adjacent said sheet-supporting means, and a flexible drive belt entrained over said drive and idler pulleys and frictionally engageable with said sheet on said sheet-supporting means.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in which said means for applying printing pressure to said card. and sheet comprises:

(a) an impression roll,

(b) means mounting said impression roll in said frame structure for movements across one of said card and sheet to apply pressure to said card and sheet against said platen,

(c) and means including linkage operatively connected to said operating element for imparting said movements to said impression roll.

6. In a printing machine,

(a) a frame structure including a magazine for holding a stacked plurality of cards containing material to be reproduced,

(b) a platen mounted in said frame structure and having a bottom working face operatively disposed in a generally horizontal plane,

(c) card feeding means including a movable carriage in said frame structure for feeding said cards singly from said magazine to a horizontally disposed printing position underlying said platen,

(d) means for supporting a card in said printing position,

(e) infeed mechanism for feeding sheets to be printed said sheet in the printing posisingly to a printing position between said platen and an underlying card and for applying transfer fluid to said sheets during feeding movement thereof, and including a feed roller,

(f) sheet supporting means for supporting said sheets in the printing position thereof.

(g) means for applying printing pressure to said card and sheet against said working face of the platen,

(h) means for imparting card-feeding movement to said card-feeding means and infeeding movements to said infeed mechanism and including, an operating element journalled in said frame structure, and transmission mechanism between said operating element and carriage and between said operating element and infeed mechanism,

(i) and sheet discharge means responsive to operation 7. The structure defined in claim 6 in which said means mounting said idler pulley comprises:

(a) a pulley supporting bar,

(b) said idler pulley being journalled at one end portion of said supporting bar,

(0) means pivotally mounting said pulley supporting bar at its opposite end on said frame structure for swinging movements of said bar on an axis parallel to the axis of said drive pulley to move said idler pulley toward and away from said sheet supporting means.

S. The structure defined in claim 7 in which said drive belt is elastic and is disposed on said drive and idler pulleys in a stretched condition, the pivotal mounting axis of said supporting bar being disposed intermediate the axes of said drive and idler pulleys and normally above a dead center relationship between the axes of said drive and idler pulleys, whereby said drive belt yieldingly urges said idler pulley toward said sheet supporting means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 586,903 7/97 Jessup 271-45 2,344,345 3/44 Elliott 101-48 2,859,690 11/58 Wright et al. 101-65 2,863,663 12/58 Richards 271-69 3,116,924 1/64 Huck 271-68 WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A PRINTING MACHINE, (A) A FRAME STRUCTURE INCLUDING A MAGAZINE FOR HOLDING A STACKED PLURALITY OF CARDS CONTAINING MATERIAL TO BE REPRODUCED, (B) A PLATEN MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME STRUCTURE, (C) CARD FEEDING MEANS IN SAID FRAME STRUCTURE FOR FEEDING SAID CARDS SINGLY FROM SAID MAGAZINE TOWARD SAID PLATEN AND FOR SUPPORTING A CARD IN CLOSELY SPACED GENERALLY PARALLEL RELATION TO SAID PLATEN, (D) INFEED MECHANISM FOR FEEDING SHEETS TO BE PRINTED SINGLY TO A PRINTING POSITION BETWEEN SAID PLATEN AND AN ADJACENT CARD AND FOR APPLYING TRANSFER FLUID TO SAID SHEETS DURING FEEDING MOVEMENT THEREOF, AND INCLUDING A ROTARY FEEDING ELEMENT, (E) MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID SHEET IN THE PRINTING POSITION THEREOF, 